The present invention relates generally to agricultural equipment and more particularly to beet harvesters.
Root crops such as sugar beets commonly have substantial amounts of dirt and other foreign material clinging to them as they are removed from the soil. If the dirt or other foreign material is not substantially removed from the beets during the field harvesting operation, harvesting productivity and capacity will be reduced and the price received for the beets will be affected.
To remove the dirt and other material from the beets, conventional beet harvesters are provided with multiple conveyors to separate the foreign material from the beet as it is conveyed through the harvester. These harvesters typically provide a first conveyor which receives the beets from the digging means and then delivers the beets for subsequent tumbling and cleaning to several other conveyors prior to elevating them for discharge into a storage tank on the box of a truck moving alongside the harvester. These conveyors are generally quite long so that the time during which the beet or root is tumbled and scrubbed is sufficient to remove the dirt and foreign material.
As a result, conventional root crop harvesters are typically wide and long with portions of cleaner conveyors extending laterally beyond the ground support wheels of the harvester. Often times these conveyors prevent transport of the harvester over narrow roads or bridges. Further, large buildings must be provided to store the implement between the harvesting seasons.
Another problem encountered with many conventional harvesters arises from the weight distribution of these multiple and lengthy conveyors on the ground support wheels. To permit the beets to be elevated for transfer to a truck, some of the conveyors must be grouped to one side of the harvester. The weight of that portion of the conveyors that extends laterally outside the ground support wheels results in side drafts during transport or field operations. Accordingly, steering is affected and often times the wheels will slip or skid in wet or muddy field conditions.